Whale
watching in Hawaii is one of the most popular of all activities on
the Big Island.
Unlike other locations in Hawaii, the Big Island is not only the
seasonal home for the famous Humpback whales but is also home year
round to a selection of Sperm whales, Pilot whales, Pygmy Killer
whalers, the Melon Headed whales and the rare beaked whales. These
other species are called catacean whales which means they are all
toothed whales. Generally these are found further off shore and
can be often seen on one of the famous Kona coast fishing charters
that ply the deep waters off the Big Island.
No
other whale however matches the glitz and pizzaz of the active
Humpback Whales which show up from roughly December through Ap
ril.
Hawaii whale watching trips abound through this period with Kona
whale watching trips being the most prominent. These beautiful
animals make their annual journey from the waters off Alaska to
the waters surrounding the
Hawaiian Islands. Here they mate, cavort and give birth to their
young. You can often see babies which were just born traveling
with their mothers and learning how to dive, slap their fins or
flukes and breach high into the air. One interesting fact about
these new born calves is that they grow at the incredible rate of
about 100 lbs a day strictly from the milk they receive from their
mothers.
Speaking of food, another incredible fact about these annual
visits is that the whales, while they are in Hawaiian waters,
actually do no eating whatsoever. They just live off the bounty of
stored fat they accumulated while feasting on plankton, krill
shrimp and other crustaceans in the Pacific waters of North
America.
And
while we’re discussing unusual facts, lets also mention that the
lung capacity of full grown Humpback is approximately the volume
that would be take up by a Volkswagen bug. No wonder they can stay
submerged for as long as an hour at a time.
There
are a very large variety of whale watching trips. Big Island whale
watches generally leave both mornings and afternoons.
